David Dallas has been working the internets for a while now. He and his manager Che have been delving into podcasts, RSS feeds, Facebook and Twitter since 2008. The pay off for Dallas was it got him into America, giving him a presence there when he couldn't afford to be there physically - and led to Dallas getting a US record deal with Duckdown Records. Andrew Dubber wrote about their approach here. It's taken Dallas and his team four years, but he got there. NYC, baby! Home of hiphop.

There seems to be an endless series of New Zeland musicians and bands at present begging for followers on Facebook and Twitter, now that NZ On Air funding requires some evidence of an online fanbase, not just faces at gigs. I've heard some folk being rather scathing of this social media requirement in the Making Tracks funding, but then you look at David Dallas, and he has over 18,000 fans on Facebook. It works.

Dallas recently celebrated the deluxe CD release of his latest album The Rose Tint, with a pop-up store based in Conch Records (from last Wednesday to Saturday). The Rose Tint came out as a free digital download earlier this year, and has hit 50,000 downloads. So, did anyone turn up to buy the CD? Hell yeah.

Dallas was in the store every day, signing CDs, taking photos, selling merch (David Dallas piggy banks anyone?). And they had live instore performances every night. It also pushed the album back up to the top of the hiphop chart on NZ iTunes.

The theory goes like this: if you give away your music and your fans think it is something of value, they will pay for more of your music. Or in Dallas' case, they will pay for music they've already downloaded for free. Cause they think it's good music.

Not everyone got behind the physical relase tho - Dallas posted this to his FB page at the weekend: "Ha, looks like we're on course to crack the top 20 on the NZ charts next week - and that's despite some retailers cockblocking by not gettin it in stores cause we gave the original Rose Tint away for free and they reckon noone cares bout a 'Deluxe'. They're bout to get schooled."

I went down to check out the last night, with singer Aradhna dropping half a dozen tunes. Damn, she has mean pipes. Her next release is a collaboration with P-Money, heard a few whispers about it and it sounds very cool.

ADDED The Sunday Star Times says that Dallas had 5,000 people come thru in four days.

Here's the New York Times, writing about US three rappers who have released free music to build fanbase. Just like David Dallas. One of these artists just topped the Billboard album chart. Sure, the chart doesn't mean as much as it once did, it terms of sales numbers. Still, its an impressive achievement.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Let's face it, lists are fun. I got asked to do a Top 5 list for Volume magazine, and slipped in a plug for the Picassos - Rewind the Hateman collection. I came up with this list.. unfortunately Volume doesn't have space for pics, so I've added them in...

Top Five Cheesy Album Covers

Herb Alpert - Whipped cream and other delights
The king of cheesy covers. Super-sexy Dolores Erickson covered in cream, which was mostly shaving foam [and she was 4 months pregnant at the time].

O'Donel Levy - Everything I do gonna be funky
The title tells you all you need to know about this record. Almost everything. Seen the cover?

"Valerie Simpson on Nick Ashford: 'I'm not used to him not being here yet'. In her first major interview since her partner's death, Simpson reflects on their work as one of music's most successful songwriting teams." From Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot.

Q: You went door to door, and I heard the first batch of songs sold for the princely sum of $64. Is that true?

A: I actually think it was $75 (laughs). That number has moved and changed over the years. We were introduced to (Josephine) Armstead, who wrote 'Let's Go Get Stoned' with us. She knew all the publishers and helped open some doors. She was about Nick's age, a former Ikette (Ike and Tina Turner's backing group) and had written some songs in Chicago. She knew more about the business than we did...

Q: What did you think of "I'll Be There for You," the huge 1995 hit for Method Man and Mary J. Blige that interpolated your song "You're All I Need to Get By"?

A: We loved it. We incorporated it into our show for a while. We'd start it off that way, and then go into the traditional version. I'm a big Mary J. fan, so anything she sings is quite all right with me. It was summertime when it came out, and it seemed to play constantly. There's a certain monotony to those types of songs sometimes, but because of those chords being what they are, that's a good type of monotony. Those are four good chords.

Q: Do you feel you got enough credit for your role in creating that song?

A: They didn't shout us out when they got the Grammy Award (for best rap performance by a duo or group), but we got the check (laughs)...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Twitter Not A Top Source For Music Discovery is the delightful title of a post over at Hypebot. When I saw this headline (via Hypebot's Twitter account) I wondered exactly what numbers they had to back up this odd assertion. It seems to be suggesting that Twitter is not where people go to follow up on finding out about something new, and instead use reccomendations from friends, or the radio/web to find out more.

A year ago I would have said I find out about new music from blogs. Now I follow all those blogs on Twitter. A year ago I would have said I get emailed new music tips by friends. Now I follow those friends on Twitter. Some of them share good music via their Facebook pages too.

As one of the commenters on this posts says.."Twitter is a personalized experience, you follow the people, magazines and sources for new music YOU respect and appreciate, and you follow them because you value their opinions. HENCE, Twitter is the BEST PERSONALIZED source for Music Discovery..."

That's a view I tend to agree with. Hisham Dahud, the author of the post responds to the above commenter..

"I agree with you that Twitter is a personalized experience in of it's own. In terms of media content however, Twitter does not suffice in providing users the resources they need to complete a discovery other than word-of-mouth recommendations (as you so described)."

Saying that Twitter doesn't do a good job in providing resources for people to complete their music discovery largely ignores the fact that there are a ton of great services already doing that (Bandcamp, Soundcloud) and they are all easily compatible with Twitter. As the article says, if Twitter tried to do those things, it would stop being Twitter.

The article states that ".. Even after making their discovery elsewhere, only 2% of NPD’s respondents said they utilize Twitter to follow-up with their discovery. This falls well behind other follow-up activities like streaming the video (19%), purchasing the download (14%) and waiting to hear the song on the radio (12%)."

I recall having a discussion late last year with someone over the importance of online vs radio when the Caddick review of NZ On Air came out.

Although most people I know discover new music thru the internet these days, the most recent survey done by NZ On Air (in 2009) found that 46% of New Zealanders discovered new music via radio, and 17% discovered new music via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. Of course these numbers don't take into how engaged the listener is, ie whether it's passive listening (ie radio on while driving) vs active listening (searching blogs etc).

Sad news. I have been listening to a lot of music from the early 80s NYC scene lately, including ESG, Konk, Liquid Liquid, and the Bush Tetras. News sourced from Dangerous Minds.

"Laura Kennedy bass player and co-founder of the legendary New York punk/funk band the Bush Tetras passed away in Minneapolis this past Monday. She had been struggling for years with Hepatitis C and despite receiving a liver transplant in 2008 was unable to survive what she described as a “scourge of an illness.”

Kennedy was in the center of the musical vortex that thrived in downtown Manhattan through the 1970s and into the early 80s. It was a time in which rock and roll was stretching its wings while simultaneously banging its head against the walls and sidewalks of a city both bleak and beautiful.

The Bush Tetras pulled uptown downtown and showed the Studio 54 crowd that there was some tribal thunder brewing below 14th street and you didn’t have to beg to get in. The BTs made it clear: funk was Universal and could not be tamed or commodified. It was in our flesh and bone and in the concrete. The city’s jittery pulse ran from the Bronx to the Bowery, a visceric train on tachycardic tracks where each station crepusculated pinpoints of chakric light. The bloodbeat pinballed and banked against Time’s Square and then veered drunkenly and divinely into the throbbing core of Manhattan’s tattered rock and roll soul: CBGB.

Kennedy wrote of her time living in downtown NYC:

"Us New York City kids from the ‘80s, often transplanted from other cities, other countries, occasionally other planets (take a wild guess who I’m talking about) - we’ve kicked ass. We’ve taken names, too - and a good many of us have not only lived to tell, but are rockin’ the telling and rollin’ the living in a way that’s inspirational… We keep going, and going and going. I defy you to tell me that all of us weren’t defined by that moment in time that we shared. This has been apparent to me for a while, but more so now that we’re a decade into the oughts. We were blessed to come together in this life at a time that defined the End of a Century.”

"I remember seeing Laura jump up with her bass in some kind of rock 'n' roll move (which no No Wave person would ever do) and it forever blowing my mind," Thurston Moore wrote in his book No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980. "I saw her as the coolest girl ever at that point. She certainly remains that way in my consciousness." More from Thurston below.

"On this now more than half a century old clip, the pioneering French musician Jean-Jacques Perrey demonstrates the early synthesiser the Ondioline as part of a quiz show called I’ve Got A Secret. The year is 1960 and electronic instruments (in particular synthesisers) are still fascinatingly new.

The point of the show, as the name would suggest, is for guests to reveal a secret to the host and audience and then make the panel of judges guess what their secret is. And I gave away Perrey’s secret in the first sentence of this paragraph. Oops..." Check the tv show host smoking up a storm...

Monday, November 14, 2011

That's the name of the debut album from film maker David Lynch. He talks about the album with New York magazine here... snip:
Q: Do you miss that era [1950s]?
A: I miss what I call a fifties dream: slow dancing in the basement with a girl with a really soft sweater and these budding breasts. Then a slow kiss in the dark in the basement with certain music playing. You know, it doesn't get much better than that.
I grew up in the eighties, so I can only imagine.
You didn't slow dance with a girl in the eighties?
I was a metalhead.
That's a disaster with a girl then.

Heard whispers a few weeks back about a new record store opening at the top of Mt Eden Rd. They are now open for business... Some info via Murray Cammick...

"SOUTHBOUND is at 69 Mt Eden Rd, near the Powerstation. They import lots of cool vinyl. CDs and DVDs into NZ and you can now see their range in a retail store. Labels they represent include Soul Jazz Records, Vampi Soul, Light in the Attic, Acid Jazz etc. The vinyl records will be new and sealed and store hours are Tues-Sat 10am to 5.30pm. They have just got stock of Little Roy's reggae covers of Nirvana LP, Battle For Seattle. Contact details: (09) 302-0769 or shop@southbound.co.nz"

And it's right near where Real Groovy once was a long time ago, before they shifted to the Queen st neighbourhood.

"... First time I ever heard the Hallelujah Picassos was in 1989 on UFM (formerly Radio U and now RDU) with their track “Clap your hands”. Loved it so much I went out and bought the Pagan Records “Positive Vibrations” compilation.

At the time, with a lyric like “…clap your hands for Jesus…” I did wonder if they were a Christian band trying to put the “fun” back into “Christian Fundamentalism”, but a closer listen to the lyrics revealed that they probably weren’t.

The Hallelujah Picassos were active from 1988 through to 1996, and like contemporaries Salmonella Dub, Supergroove, and Head Like A Hole amongst others, brought some much needed colour to the local music scene.

I loved the Picassos because they crossed genres (garage, pop, reggae, dub), could be light and dark, and sounded like they were having a blast.

“Rewind the Hatemen” ... still sounds quite fresh. “Black Space Picasso Core” is still nutty sampledelic, “Bastardiser” still garage rocks, “Hello Pablo” still has sweet melodica action, and “Shivers” is still The Bats / Able Tasmans collaboration that never happened..."

Just heard this via Indies NZ newsletter.. "According to well-placed sources, Spotify is likely to hit Australia and New Zealand 'in or around' February, and boots may already be on the ground. And, that will be complemented by a serious Asian expansion to be headquartered in Hong Kong, Singapore, or both.

"Spotify has declined any comment to Digital Music News, though sources are coming from label contacts in both the United States and Australia itself. The Australian & New Zealand headquarters will be in Sydney, and already, Spotify is seeking a label relations manager to liaise with hundreds of labels, distributors, publishers, and other content partner." More at Digital Music News

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

The 2nd announcement for the Auckland Big Day Out this morning revealed some changes to the festival, dropping several stages (from 8 to 4) and shrinking the lineup, including dropping Kanye West. Refunds are available for anyone who bought tickets on the basis of Kanye appearing, but only til Nov 30. Added to the bill were Noel Gallagher, Nero with live band, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Das Racist.

The Lilyworld stage is gone, as is the Local Produce stage. I saw so many great, unexpected musical delights at the Lilyworld stage. There will now be only one main stage, not two as in previous years. The Adelaide and Perth BDOs also made similar announcements, downscaling their events and shrinking the lineup.

There's clearly some hard economics at work, as the organisers face rising costs. BDO NZ boss Campbell Smith said the restructure was ''vital'' for his team to be able to find a way to keep the Big Day Out in Auckland. "It's a very expensive show ... we needed to look at rebuilding it from the ground up. We want to make sure we still have a Big Day Out here," said Campbell.

But halving the stages and the number of bands, while keeping the price similar to last year doesn't seem likely to attract new punters.

So is it due to shrinking crowds? In 2009 the crowd was 40,000 punters, 2010 was 45,000 (sold out), and 2011 was nearly 45,000 according to news reports. Capacity for the event is usually round 40-45,000. So, the BDO audience isn't declining, it's holding steady.

Has the venue costs gone up dramatically, after earlierreports that the BDO might be moving to North Harbour stadium, due to urgent repairs needed to Mt Smart? There was also the suggestion that "It's believed that the council, who run [Mt Smart] stadium, want more money for the location hire and bar sales in the future."

Kat did some number crunching and came up with this chart, on her blog... click on it to enlarge it...

Kat writes about her chart: "It shows in cold hard numbers what has happened to the Big Day Out and what this reduction means to your pocket... These numbers came from my original tickets and the final timetables (obviously, with the exception of the 2012 event, which is yet to release the timetable.

"The numbers for that line are taken from the Big Day Out website). Up until 2012, we were paying less than $2 per ticket for each band. Now we are paying twice that for a lesser festival. You might get a $20 merchandise voucher with your 2012 ticket, but NOTHING is $20 at the merchandise stand..."

"Heavy D - real name Dwight Arrington Myers -- was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon today ... and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM. He was 44 years old. We've learned a 911 call was placed from Heavy's Beverly Hills home around 11:25 AM to report an unconscious male on the walkway . "

Spin Magazine and its sources confirm Heavy D's passing. "[He] is best known for a consistently great stream of albums in the late '80s and early '90s that seamlessly mixed hip-hop with pop aspirations, culminating in the Top 20 single "Now That We Found Love."

His "chunky but funky" persona, cushiony delivery and high-velocity flow garnered him five Top 40 records and memorable guest appearances on albums by both Michael and Janet Jackson. [Heavy D performed in the MJ memorial concert in Wales on Oct 8]

More recently, Heavy performed on television for the first time in many years, closing out the 2011 B.E.T. Awards with a medley of his classic hits. Earlier this morning, he appeared on Radio 1Xtra to tell Tim Westwood the story about the performance, which he said had him practicing eight hours a day for six weeks and almost vomiting from nervousness."

Monday, November 07, 2011

I borrowed a Korg Monotron off a mate of mine a while back, they make fantastic squelchy noises. Now Korg have launched two new versions of the Monotron, a Duo version and a Delay version which sounds glorious. Watch... via Engadget

I knew there were like about a million other acts that got signed up to Factory, you just never got to hear about them down here in NZ, on the other side of the planet. Sure, we got Joy Division, New Order and A Certain Ratio, but this new collection goes way deeper...

Review from Turntable Lab: "The good folks at Strut shine some light on the dancier side of iconic Manchester label Factory Records for Factory Dance. Everyone knows the label's iconic acts like Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays, but here we get treated to some of the lesser known bands that graced the label during the early 80's when Factory was exploring jazz funk, experimental soul, and even reggae territories.

Boogie heads will want to check the 52nd Street material, especially "Cool As Ice(1)" and "Look Into My Eyes(2)," while X-O-Dus "See Them A Come" is perfect for the dancehall. Did you know Factory ever took it there? Neither did I! You also get the underground disco-not-disco classic from Quando Quango ("Love Tempo") as well as the slept-on cosmic vibes of "Genius," plus post-punk on the disco side of things from Section 25 on "Dirty Disco" and electro on "Looking From A Hilltop."

There's even some heavy industrial house beats (The Hood's "Salvation"), chilled-out balearic (Durutti Column) and a good dose of experimental no-wave business from Swamp Children, Biting Tongues, Blurt, and Minny Pops. An outstanding collection compiled by Bill Brewster (author of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and DJHistory.com founder). 24 tracks in all."

Sunday, November 06, 2011

"In advance of the performance, KRCW DJ Anthony Valadez has created a stellar mix incorporating Ayers originals and their creative offspring. Appearances include the Roots, Ultramagnetic MCs, X-Clan, and more (the transition from Ayers and Carl Clay's "Shining Symbol" into Redman's "Creepin'" is masterful). But the Ayers effect has extended to a third generation. Also on the bill will be Thundercat, the Brainfeeder-signed fusion jazz artist who clearly channels the beautiful float of Ayers' most poignant compositions."

Saturday, November 05, 2011

"According to Billboard.com, Techniques songwriter and record producer Winston Riley, 65, was shot in the head and arm on Tuesday at his home in Kingston, Jamaica.

The website also claims the status of the hitmaker is unknown, as the hospital where he is being treated is a secret.

A consistent hitmaker since the late 1960s, Riley has been the victim of a series of unexplained violent attacks, says the website. According to it, Riley was shot in August and stabbed in September. The police are investigating the relationship between the incidents."

Public Enemy's Chuck D is suing Universal Music. Rolling Stone reports that Chuck is "claiming that the company has underpaid his royalties on digital downloads. The suit alleges that UMG routinely misrelates royalties owed to artists on MP3s and ringtones by treating them as sales of physical record as opposed to licensed works...

"Chuck D's complaint follows a federal judge's decision on Tuesday to move forward on a similar class action pursued by Rob Zombie and the estate of Rick James [more here]."

Digital Music News has published documents that back up Chuck D's claims. "According to federal court documents filed Wednesday by attorneys for Chuck D. The detailed breakdown shows that for every 1,000 iTunes downloads sold, a UMG-signed artist gets paid $80.33. And that's after the label collects on a 25% 'Container Charge for Audiophile Records,' as well as a 15% 'Net Sales Deduction'. Which means that for every one download, the payout is roughly 8.033 cents."

" the ringtone payout is loaded with even more artificial ingredients, including the same 'Audiophile Packaging Deduction'. In fact, despite a much higher price tag on ringtones (ie, $3 listed here), the major label artist gets a paltry per-ringtone payout of 5 cents."

Friday, November 04, 2011

I watched some of the NZ Music Awards last night. There was some great live performances, though unfortunately the live sound didn't seem to translate well to tv. I saw a number of folk on Twitter complaining about the poor live sound.

The songs from those acts that have toured extensively overseas for the past year stood out for me - the performances of Naked and Famous, and Ladi6 in particular were head and shoulders above the other acts. Clearly, playing live a lot makes for some well-honed performers. And go Ladi6 for winning two awards!

Tiki Taane was joined by a handful of fellow musos, like Julia Deans and Hollie Smith, for his song Freedom To Sing, aimed at his run-in with the police earlier this year. Half way thru the song, the tv cameras showed about half a dozen police walking thru the crowd, towards the stage. They joined Tiki on stage, then started dancing and leaping round while Tiki played.

A lot of people thought they were real police. Russell Brown of Media 7/Public Address tweeted "Apparently real cops DANCING ON STAGE with Tiki. Genius." Marcus Lush tweeted "Real cops on the stage with tiki taane . . Best thing i have seen at a music award ever !"

I replied to Russell, saying the NZ Herald reported earlier in the week that Tauranga police had politely refused Tiki's invitation to join him onstage. The police onstage with Tiki had very authentic looking costumes on. Russell Brown noted that he "Saw them up close before the performance. Really thought they were real cops."

PeadPR, who handle publicity for the music awards said via Twitter "They're legit". But Wammo from KiwiFm said "My interview with him [Tiki] yesterday [wed] was inconclusive on the matter."

So, were they real cops? Brown later posted this: "Update: NOT real cops on stage with Tiki, but nightclub bouncers." NZ Herald reports that the men were wearing real police uniforms.

Stuff.co.nz reported that " ... Along with the awards, Auckland's Vector Arena came to life with performances from [Brooke] Fraser and The Naked and Famous, as well as Ladi6, Six60, Avalanche City and [Tiki] Taane, who performed alongside the "love police" in a nod to his brush with the law earlier this year." Is using fake cops likely to improve Tiki's relationship with the Police or not? Made for a good spectacle tho.

ADDED Dave Roper (promoter and former owner of Zen/Fu Bar) posted this to Twitter "Cracking up at pictures of our old bar manager Rueben Brooker dancing on stage at the NZ Music Awards in a NZ Police uniform."

My fave moment in Tiki's performance was when one of the faux cops put his cap on the head of Tiki's guitarist for the night Aaron Tokona (Cairo Knife Fight), and he was transformed into Zac Wallace in classic NZ film Utu. Choice.

UPDATED Official Police statement on Tiki and the polcie uniforms... source

November 4, 2011, 2:24 pm
"Acting Police Commissioner Viv Rickard confirmed today that the ‘officers’ on stage with singer Tiki Taane last night at the New Zealand Music Awards were in fact dancers and not Police.

“Mr Taane approached us a while ago and asked if some of our officers could appear on stage with him during his performance of ‘Freedom to sing’. While we were pleased to be asked, we are not able to facilitate those kinds of requests. However, we did approve the use of four uniforms for Mr Taane’s dancers to wear during the performance last night.

“Congratulations to him for his awards, it is good to see him doing well.”

Mr Rickard said Police and Mr Taane had come to an agreement a month ago after a performance by Mr Taane resulted in him being arrested for disorderly behaviour.

“We worked through the matter and Mr Taane has now volunteered to be a family violence spokesperson in one of our districts and it is fantastic to have someone of his profile and youth to be able to connect to our communities about such a serious and important issue.”

ENDS

NB : It is an offence to personate a police officer. However, Police do need to be able to provide uniforms at times for filming or theatrical purposes. These requests are carefully considered on a case by case basis."

Thursday, November 03, 2011

"Erykah Badu, will play her first ever New Zealand show at next February’s Splore Festival.

The multi Grammy Award winning artist will be backed by a full band and backing singers. She is known for her compelling stage presence and attention to choreographic detail.

Badu’s groundbreaking debut album, 1997’s Baduizm, went multi-platinum and won her two Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Album.
Her most recent albums, New Amerykah Part I and Part II debuted at Number 2 and 5 respectively on the Billboard Top 200 album charts.

Festival music director, John Minty, says Badu will perform at Splore on her way through to Sydney where she is playing Sydney’s Opera House. “It’s the first time she has been to New Zealand - what better place to get a taste of New Zealand but at a Splore festival."

"For this one-off New Zealand show, Mulatu Astatke is joined by The Black Jesus Experience, an Australian/Ethiopian ensemble who fuse traditional Ethiopian song with jazz, funk and hip hop. The nine-piece group supported Astatke for his recent sell-out Australian shows, having just returned from their own highly successful tour of Europe and Ethiopia.

Mulatu was interviewed recently by Volume magazine, here's a few excerpts.. very interesting cat...

"... don't expect a taste of typical Ethiopian music when Mulatu Astatke's grinning face appears on stage at The Powerstation next month; there isn't any. What Astatke's Ethio-jazz stands for is a blend of Latin jazz and Deep South swamp funk decorated with delightful, mysterious vibraphone melodies similar to those you used to hear whenever things got really scary during an episode of Twin Peaks.

"The vibraphone is an extension of the balaphone, an African instrument that's also played with two stakes," Astatke says. "As an African I like to stay close to my roots, which is part of the reason why I chose to play the vibraphone."

While Astatke has reached a legendary status in recent years, recognition hasn't always come naturally for him: "I really struggled to get people to understand my music when I started more than 40 years ago. It's probably because of these difficult times early on in my career that I really appreciate to see my music flourish now."

After having spent decades in relative anonymity, around 2008 Astatke began to record again. As part of the Inspiration Information series, named after the seminal Shuggie Otis album, Mulatu released an album with British band The Heliocentrics, an eclectic group that treads in the footsteps of jazz and funk visionaries like Sun Ra, David Axelrod and Funkadelic. Recording Inspiration Information Vol. 3 got Mulatu started again: "The joint repetition started even before I had seen these guys play solo, but the period of recording and touring turned out to be dynamic and fun."

His newly recognised Godfather status led Astatke to head to Harvard University on a Radcliffe Institute fellowship. Back in the States, he worked on the modernisation of the krar, a traditional Ethiopian string instrument.

"It hurt to see how much the krar became oblivious among young musicians from my country. More and more people decided to play guitar rather than krar because of its greater range. With a group of people at MIT we succeeded in extending the range of the instrument, and you can now actually play modern music with it. To demonstrate the results of my work, I got a student to play a number of jazz standards on the krar as part of my final presentation at MIT."

Of course, Astatke's second Golden Age didn't start at an academic level. Jim Jarmusch's 2005 movie Broken Flowers featured seven of his songs and Mulatu-samples can now be heard in songs by the likes of Damian Marley, Kanye West, Quantic and Madlib. And on the evening of Friday 25 November, the pioneer of these sounds will ask the audience if you've seen a certain movie, raise his drumsticks, and kick start a night of intoxicating Ethio-jazz."

Mulatu Astatke and The Black Jesus Experience perform at Auckland’s Powerstation on Friday 25th November, 2011. Tickets: go to http://www.powerstation.net.nz/ for all ticket and show information. Tickets from Ticketmaster and Real Groovy Auckland.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

According to rock veteran Pete Townshend (yes, he's still alive), music lovers who steal music are evil, and iTunes is a "digital vampire" that profits from music without supporting the artists who create it. He made his comments while delivering the first John Peel Lecture. Read more here.

Townshend says that "iTunes should offer some of the services to artists that record labels and music publishers used to provide." It seems odd that he expects a music retailer to act like a record company. You wouldn't expect brick and mortar music stores to do that.

"Why can't music lovers just pay for music rather than steal it?" he said.

The Guardian has further coverage of Townshend's comments, including this gem... "Townshend said his "inner artist" thought [Steve] Jobs was "one of the coolest guys on the planet" but admitted he had once said in an interview that he "wanted to cut Job's balls off".

Here in New Zealand, the first infringement notices under the new Copyright Act were sent out overnight, by RIANZ (Recording Industry Association of NZ). Forty of the 50 notices were for songs by Rihanna, with the others being songs by Lady Gaga. Orcon has received 8 notices, TelstraClear has got about a dozen, and Telecom has got 40 to date. Vodafone says it has also got a few notices.

"Bastard Jazz is proud to present a brand new 7” from talented New Zealand producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Fabulous aka Lord Echo. Known previously for his role as a founding member of New Zealand reggae band The Black Seeds, Lord Echo stepped into his own with his release of his 2010 debut album Melodies. With it’s effortless mixture of funk, dub, latin, and disco sounds, (including a dynamite cover of Sister Sledge’s “Thinking Of You” - listen below), the album slowburned its way to worldwide acclaim, quickly finding itself garnering big buzz on hundreds of music blogs worldwide.

This new 7” on Brooklyn’s Bastard Jazz Recordings is Fabulous’ first new material since "Melodies", and picks right up where the album left off. On the A-Side, “Things I Like To Do” is a feel-good stomper with fuzzed out organ stabs, a bubbling bass, a stuttering stripped down live break and a soaring horn section. On the flip, “Long Time No See” brings in more sunshine with it’s big Boogaloo vibes – heavy on the handclaps, Latin percussion, voical chants and blurts, and horns and flutes galore…. with just a hint of 70s Blaxploitation lurking in the background." Release date: November 7. Preview below...

Monday, October 31, 2011

A mate sent me this pic (thanks, Walter), from 69 Mt Eden Rd, where it looks like a new record store is opening. It's run by Southbound Distribution, who handle some great labels. Apparently it's opening soon.

You can buy the digital downloads from Amplifier (320k MP3), iTunes, and other digital stores. Amplifier has a special bonus tune - Marshall Law Dub [listen], which we recorded with Mike Hodgson (now of Pitch Black).

ITunes has a bonus track too - our cover version of Head Like A Hole's song Air [listen].

Raggamuffin Festival has added some acts to the lineup for next year - Arrested Development, Sly n Robbie, J-Boog, and Katchafire.

"Organisers have also announced Chad Chambers, winner of Maori Television's singing competition Homai Te Pakipaki will join other New Zealand performers Kora and Three Houses Down on the main Saturday stage. Chambers' inclusion in the world-class line-up came after thousands of fans petitioned Raggamuffin organisers via Facebook."

from the liner notes...." In 2010 returning from extensive travel in Mali and Mauritania, Chris Kirkley (Sahel Sounds) presented “Music from Saharan Cellphones”. The music on the compilation was collected from cellphones in the Northern Malian town of Kidal.

In much of West Africa, cellphones are are used as all-purpose multimedia devices. In lieu of personal computers and high speed internet, cellphones house portable music collections, playback songs on tiny built-in speakers, and swap files through peer-to-peer Bluetooth wireless transfer. The songs collected in Kidal range from DIY Tuareg guitar, auto-tuned Moroccan chaabi, Malian coupé décalé, and fruityloop hip hop.

Originally released as a limited run cassette tape by Mississippi Records in Portland Oregon, the cassette was uploaded to blogs and online media hubs, and quickly became a viral source of new and inspiring sounds.

On Oct.10 2011 Boomarm Nation and Sahel Sounds present: “Music For Saharan Cellphones”. Drawing on gifted producers and musicians from a variety of stylistic backgrounds and nationalities, each artist selected and re-interpreted a musical moment from the source material.

From bass laden sound/clash ventures, abstract re-creations, and even an amazing autotune cover, the end result holds a rich assortment of well informed musical statements. Reflecting the energy and fidelity of its origins, these versions take on their own rare and exciting form. Using the mp3 as the medium, the Music and the Musicians become the diplomacy.

This compilation will be available in 3 formats: 1- FREE digital download via bandcamp and our website. 2- A limited edition cassette tape. (released by Mississippi Records.) 3- MicroSD card. (limited to 30- hand numbered cards, which we will be shipping to Kidal, Mali where they will be redistributed and uploaded into the vast web of digital musics.)

In addition, a limited edition 7” single of Mdou Moctar’s autotune masterpiece “Tahoultine” b/w Gulls remix, will be co-released by Boomarm Nation and Sahel Sounds in November 2011, followed by a 12" LP of "Music from Saharan Cellphones" by Sahel Sounds."

Friday, October 28, 2011

Eric Marsden (The Androidss) has passed away. Heard that via Chris Matthews (Headless Chooks) on Facebook. His brother Steve passed away in early March 2009.

I was lucky enough to catch this tribute gig in 2009 to Steve's memory, featuring the remaining members of the Androidss (including Eric) performing, alongside The Spelling Mistakes, The Newmatics and Chris Matthews and his band Robot Monkey Orchestra.

ADDED 1 Nov - saw this via Robert Southon on Facebook - "For friends of Eric and of the Androidss, there is a wake on Nov 9th at the Tabac Bar in Auckland."ADDED 2 Nov - via Loriah in the comments - A memorial wake for Eric is to be held at the Richmond Working Mens Club in Christchurch on Friday Nov 4th from 4pm.

"This band [had] a great and large repertoire of songs that were most unfortunately lost to history. A contributing factor to their history and lack of recordings was due to a couple of members doing jail time. However, "Auckland Tonight” and “Getting Jumpy" were the only two songs to have been recorded/documented/saved, thanks to Ripper Records." [source]

ADDED: Eric Marsden of the Androidss outside the Media Club, Christchurch before the band's gig 23/10 2008 (more info on the gig here, apparently it was a fundraiser, and there is mention of their planned album). Photo by Robin Mcilraith (and cannot be reused without Robin's permission). Thanks for sending me this, Robin.

Photo by Robin Mcilraith

Photo from Robin Mcilraith. Apparently Eric used to give out this photo to his female fans!

Here's some words that Mark Wilson of the Androidss wrote on Steven Marsden's passing ...[source]

Mark Wilson formed The Androidss with Stephen and remembers him accordingly...

"Raging at the Gresham Tavern with The Basket Cases when Zephyrs and Cortinas were polluting the atmosphere was cool but nothing compared to The Androidss! In 1978 the party hit the road. Stephen and Eric Marsden (identical twins), Mark and Neil Spence, Arthur Manawatu, Frank Stenjes and I threw together some tunes. Armed with pot, alcohol, guitars and attitude we created a repertoire of Iggy, Bowie, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Blondie, Magazine covers mixed with my eclectic soul searching originals. Arthur left so Steve and I fronted the band. Playing around Christchurch to small audiences soon led to us play support for NZ touring bands such as the Dudes, Toy Love and The Swingers. Iggy Pop saw us perform his songs at the British Hotel in Lyttelton. Stephen and I sat with him and drank whisky. The press quoted him: "they're tough as bitches but they're beautiful!"

Next we headed for Auckland. "Androidss suck" was the cry from local punks, skinheads and boot boys; fagends flicked in our faces as we forged our way into the Auckland scene. Shaving off to create a new image, we fitted in to the punk scene and the arty new wave culture. This inspired Stephen to write Auckland Tonight. Packing out the Rhumba Bar, photos in magazines and posters catapulted our popularity and after touring back to Christchurch headlining gigs we recorded our one and only record. Stephens' Auckland Tonight and my song Getting Jumpy went to number 18 on NZ charts! Steve's song was put to video for the popular show Droppa Kulcha. We had sort of made it!

Living the rock'n'roll lifestyle took its toll and we disbanded. The party was over. Mark split to London, I got married and the others stayed in Auckland eventually coming back to Christchurch, except Steve who lived the rest of his days devoted to his wife Andrea.

I am grateful to have had these experiences with Steve. His incredible enthusiasm and energy coupled with his humour gave me something to hang off; flanking him on his right with my guitar while he sang and I played my solos. I will never forget those times. Last year Stephen got up and sang with the new millennium Androidss. Liberate The Androidss!

For Stephen, May God Bless him - Mark Wilson

ADDED : Bryan Staff talks about the photo below, with NZ Musician's Trevor Reekie..."It was at David Gapes’ birthday party at the King’s Arms in 1992. I don’t know who took it – but it was on my camera." There's another photo of Eric and Steve there too, with Greg Carroll.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

From LA Times, Snoop Dogg and crew in the studio working on two tunes for Snoop's next album, and two tunes for the much anticipated Detox from Dr Dre... there's a bunch of messing round, and then they get into the beat making, which is some pretty awesome music...

"...Though Snoop is often portrayed as the goofy avuncular stoner, this is the side of him as the true artist, surrounded by lauded producer DJ Quik, who arrives with a black box that he describes as "every drum machine you ever wanted in your life, rolled into one." Beaming, Snoop picks it up and tells the camera: "This is the cheat sheet, straight from DJ Quik's living."

.... Like most Dre-related work, there are live guitarists and drummers, mixed with machines both analog and digital. In between the blunt smoking and conversations with members of Guerillas in Tha Mist (!), there's the ineradicable emphasis on topping the past.

Snoop readily references "Still D.R.E" and the wild reaction it continues to get from crowds even a dozen years after its release. He describes it as the "[last stuff], it was perfect. We need to find something flawless for Dre and he ain't listening past the first 10 seconds."...

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The lineup for next year's Womad Festival in New Plymouth (March 16-18) was announced this evening. Highlights include Mad Professor, Staff Benda Billili, Master Drummers of Burundi, Groundation, The Yoots, Black Seeds, Paul Urbana Jones, Pajama Club, and more. More info at the Womad site. Full lineup below.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Hugh Sundae of the NZ Herald has posted a great piece on the forthcoming Hallelujah Picassos reissue, out next Monday. There's the new video, and an excerpt from the CD liner notes, written by Simon Grigg. Here it is...

Extract from Simon Grigg's liner notes for Rewind the Hateman

"The Picassos arrived in 1988 and Auckland, and indeed, New Zealand, had seen nothing like them.

Whereas most of their influence-mashing contemporaries combined two, or at most, three of the above musical revolutions together, Hallelujah Picassos took absolutely no prisoners and slammed them all together in an almost violent and ruthless amalgam of joy.

And you either loved them or hated them. There was no middle ground. Harold's performance and Bobbylon's sweet noise didn't offer you the non-committal option.

I loved them, and found that it was both exhilarating and exhausting to be in their presence. You thrilled at the energy and seductive melody, but found yourself utterly shattered as they walked off... and I'm not a dancer. I can but try to imagine how the band felt.

In almost any other nation they'd likely have been adopted by the fringes of the mainstream and done quite well given their look and sound, but in an era when airplay for their sort (y'know: NZ bands) on any radio stations outside of student radio was non-existent, their sales remained steady but unspectacular, driven mostly by live shows.

But their influence was undeniable, and a generation of local acts who refused to accept the boundaries that those Pink Floyd and Dire Straits-loving critics defined owe massively to the Picassos, often without realising exactly how much they broke down the barriers of musical conservatism in Auckland and beyond.

However their catalogue has languished since then, being largely unavailable, aside from a track here and there, throughout the 21st century.

Until now... and this, I guess, is as good a place as any to encourage you to take a leap into the recorded work of one of the most important New Zealand acts of their time.

"The seductively orchestrated Latin-pop songs that set British feet tapping in the 1940s and 50s made the Trinidad-born bandleader Edmundo Ros a household name. But beside such musical success, Ros, who has died aged 100, made a remarkable reinvention of his life: the mixed-race "outsider" successfully challenged the British class system, to become, as he put it, "a respected gentleman".

When he went to London in June 1937 to study at the Royal Academy of Music, he felt racially categorised by being sent to lodgings for colonial students. A tall, strikingly handsome man, he was determined to crash through such restrictions. Within five years, he had deployed his talents, charisma and charm to good enough effect to find himself performing for the future Queen of England – and was himself developing a cut-glass accent."